Diversity
Diversity 1: The concept of diversity
The concept of 'diversity' is central to good teaching. As a framework for thinking, it rejects the notion of a 'normal' group and 'other' or minority groups of children and constitutes diversity and difference as central to the mixture of students that you have in your lesson. It is fundamental to the approach taken to diversity in New Zealand education that it honors the Treaty of Waitangi.
Diversity encompasses many characteristics including ethnicity, socio-economic background, home language, gender, special needs, disability, and giftedness. Teaching needs to be responsive to diversity within ethnic groups, for example, diversity within Pakeha, Māori, Pasifika and Asian students. Evidence shows teaching that is responsive to student diversity can have very positive impacts on low and high achievers at the same time.
By promoting respect for the similarities and differences among persons and cultures, such an educational experience, encourages positive relations between them. Acknowledging other cultures and worldviews and recognizing that factors such as race, class and culture frame how people interpret, understand, and explain others’ words and actions can transform silences into productive discussions.
The aim of this module of the course is to help you create effective learning environments for students from diverse groups. Following are a series of pages dealing briefly with some of the characteristics of personal identity that combine to make our students unique, followed by a list of suggestions for creating an inclusive classroom.
Intersectionality
We also need to recognize the diversity within individual students influenced by intersections of gender, cultural heritage(s), socio-economic background, and talent. In other words, people differ from each on a range of attributes that are often interdependent with each other. This concept, that your difference and discrimination is a product of the intersection between a range of factors is known as intersectionality. The following video explains this concept in more detail.
You can read more about this concept of intersectionality on this page. The concept of intersectionality helps remind us that not only do multiple factors that make up our identities but also that these categories do not exist independently of each other or that any one factor is more or less responsible for one’s personal identity. Instead, it helps to emphasize that each of your students is a unique individual with a variety of thoughts and perspectives.
Diversity 2. Characteristics Of Individual Difference
Multiple variables influence an individual student’s behaviors and attitudes. These overlapping categories of identity include, but are not limited to, characteristics such as gender, race, ethnic group, social class, region of origin, language spoken at home, religion, physical maturity, and level of ability. We need to be careful, of course, that generalizations about our students’ behavior do not substitute one set of assumptions for another. Although groups who have characteristics in common often share norms of behavior, attitudes, or speaking styles, not every person endorses these views. It is important to remember that while some minority groups draw great strength and character from racial, religious, or national solidarity, not all members of these groups identify with them. Some people of ethnic origin, for example, do not experience strong cultural affiliations, and many students of different cultures prefer not to identify with a particular culture. Furthermore, even those who do identify with a particular group will not share the same thoughts or actions. Assuming all members of a group think alike robs people of their individuality.
In short, even though in the following sections we focus on issues particular to certain groups, we do not mean to suggest that homogeneity exists within any of these groups. The complexity of categorizing groupings challenges the belief that there may be such things as ethnic learning styles or the ability to identify racial or ethnic group membership by physical characteristics or behavior.
By structuring our classes to include a variety of modes of learning, all the students in the course will be able to learn effectively. Being aware of some of the issues facing members of particular groups helps make us sensitive to the pressures faced by many students while treating each student as a whole person rather than as a stereotype.
Diversity 3. Teaching for cultural and ethnic diversity
The student population is increasingly becoming more multi-ethnic as immigration and normal population growth impact on schools. All students enter the classroom with an ethnic and racial identity, whether consciously or unconsciously. All of our students bring their histories into our classrooms. Some of these histories can be problematic, because for many people originally from a different country racism and cultural bigotry remain pervasive
Life is often stressful for students from minority ethnic and cultural groups on predominantly pakeha campuses. Many times the power and presence of Pakeha values and opinions in this setting is underestimated. Students from minority groups often feel overlooked, made representative for their culture or ethnic group, or attacked personally or by association, while being Pakeha remains an invisible or normative category.
Research even indicates that many teachers communicate negative feelings to students of different cultures and have a disproportionate number of negative verbal and nonverbal interactions with them. These negative interactions include ignoring students from minority cultures, challenging them less often during discussion or problem-solving sessions, counseling them to take less-advanced courses, and even accusing those who do well of cheating (a phenomenon is also known as “spotlighting”). Such lack of attention and lower expectations from a succession of teachers can cause these students to feel alienated from their academic environment and to have diminished confidence in their abilities.
One way to combat these feelings of alienation, isolation or tokenism is to establish positive faculty/student relations with all of your students. Studies indicate that relationships with teachers are one of the most effective predictors of student outcomes for Maori students. Positive relationships lead to lower levels of alienation and higher retention and graduation rates. Another way to create a supportive environment is to acknowledge and address differences in the classroom and provide course material or examples that draw from a wide variety of cultures and experiences. Color-blindness is not the goal of a multicultural education, but awareness and appreciation of unique individuals is. As mentioned earlier, it is also important to realize that vast differences exist between the various cultures lumped together under such words as “ethnic,” “minority,” or “students of color.” All Maori or Polynesian students, for example, do not know each other, nor do they all speak alike, think alike, or have similar life experiences. Similarly, second and third generation Asian students may exhibit very different reactions and backgrounds than newly immigrated Asian students. Student behaviors or attitudes may also differ widely according to gender, social class, their specific cultural group, and even how long ago their families immigrated to New Zealand.
To a learner whose home culture differs from the one dominant in many school classrooms, unspoken expectations of classroom interaction and communication-how one gets the floor, shows deference, concurs or disagrees, etc.-may seem confusing, alienating, or unfair. If we remain unaware of such possible cultural influences, they can cause misunderstandings in the classroom. For example, in many cultures (including Asian and Pacific), silence before one’s superiors, indirection in expressing one’s thoughts, and avoiding direct eye contact all signal respect for authority. Students from such cultures may hesitate to speak out in class, to address the teacher’s ideas directly, or to state strongly their ideas in writing. Thus, a teacher might consider a Latino student who avoids eye contact during the discussion as “apathetic” or “indifferent,” while the student might simply be conforming to culturally delineated patterns of respect. On the other hand, the teacher’s continued eye contact, meant to elicit comments or signal interest in the student’s ideas, may make the student uncomfortable since a direct gaze could indicate either a direct confrontation (if directed to the same sex), or an attempt at seduction (if directed between the sexes). On neither side would the assumptions be correct. In general, increasing your knowledge about and sensitivity to ethnic, racial, and cultural groups other than your own will help you become a better teacher.
What is culture?
Culture can be described in terms of both its visible and invisible elements:
“The visible are the signs, images and iconography that are immediately recognizable as representing that culture and that theoretically create an appropriate context for learning. The invisible are the values, morals, modes of communication and decision making and problem-solving processes along with the worldviews and knowledge - producing processes that assist individuals and groups with meaning and sense-making. Hence the notion that the creation of learning contexts needs to allow for the existence of both visible and invisible elements.”1
What is ethnicity?
Ethnicity is defined as “A socially defined category of people who identify with each other based on a shared social experience or ancestry.” The word ethnic has been derived from the Greek word ‘ethnos’, meaning heathen and pagan. Ethnicity is a method of classification based upon a common trait of the population, such as a common heritage, a common culture, a shared language or dialect. Some ethnic groups may be marked by little more than a common name. However, ethnic groups have a consciousness of their common cultural bond. The bond develops because of their unique historical and social experiences. This becomes the basis for the group’s ethnic identity. Each ethnic group is different from the other. They have different cultural practices, different social norms, different mannerisms, and behaviors. They may or may not have different languages, dialects or accents. Each ethnic group has a different culture, tradition, and customs.
The main difference between ethnicity and culture is that ethnicity is the division of groups of people depending on their ancestry, culture or other special characteristics of the society in which he/she is born into. Culture, on the other hand, is a social phenomenon which explains the characteristics of a particular society. However, an individual may inherit both an ethnicity and culture at birth, since these are not rigid social values.
Cultural competence
Cultural competence, in terms of teaching, is to affirm and validate the culture/s of each learner. It acknowledges that all learners and teachers come to the classroom as culturally located individuals and that all interactions and learning are culturally defined. Culturally competent teachers are able to use the learner’s culture/s as a building block to learn and teach. They understand how to utilize the learner’s culture/s to aid the teaching and learning process, as well as to facilitate relationships and professional growth.
Culturally competent teachers get to know the learner and work to ensure that the learning environment, learning partnerships and learning discussions acknowledge and respect the learner’s culture/s. For Māori learners, this includes collaborating and consulting with parents, whānau, and iwi to learn and better understand what the Māori community values and wants for their children, and what Māori learners need in order to enjoy education success as Māori.
Teacher cultural competence involves understanding, respecting and valuing culture, and knowing how to use culture as an asset in the teaching and learning process, both inside and beyond the classroom.
Diversity 4. Bicultural pedagogies and Maori education
There are a wide variety of issues facing Māori learners. These are similar to those faced by non-Māori students but are compounded by cultural differences and sensitivities. The dominant culture within the education system is Pākeha and as such does not always reflect the needs of Māori pupils in general. The Ministry of Education website recommends that teachers need to make education more appropriate for Māori children through the greater use of relevant contexts.
Consultation with Māori is required to ensure that matauranga Māori is being used appropriately.
According to the New Zealand Teachers' Council, effective teachers of Māori students create a culturally appropriate and responsive context for learning in their classroom. In doing so they demonstrate:
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they positively and vehemently reject deficit theorising as a means of explaining Māori students’ educational achievement levels (and professional development projects need to ensure that this happens); and
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teachers know and understand how to bring about change in Māori students’ educational achievement and are professionally committed to doing so (and professional development projects need to ensure that this happens);
Good teachers achieve this in the following observable ways:
Building the framework of kaupapa Māori
One very significant SET article, from Bishop and Glynn5, introduces metaphors of Kaupapa Māori and discusses concepts of pedagogy in this context. They assert that “what is required is a pedagogy incorporating the re-assertion of Māori cultural aspirations, preferences and practices”.
They continue by indicating that “...through such a pedagogy, structural issues of power and control, initiation, benefits, representation, legitimization, and accountability can be addressed in mainstream classes in ways that will eventually benefit all students.” They maintain that this theory builds on experiences in educational settings and research and focuses on the centrality of an analysis of power.
Bishop and Glynn continue by quoting a detailed study of Māori medium primary schooling by Professor Graham Smith from Waikato University. This study “identified a series of fundamental principles, which are then extended into mainstream educational settings in ways that address issues to do with power, initiation, benefits, representation, legitimization, and accountability.
then as a stereotype.
The following is an abridged version of the principles
Writing about the metaphors and images we have for education and children, Bishop and Glynn add:
"Simply put, if the imagery we hold of Māori children (or indeed of any children), or of interaction
patterns, is one of deficits, then our principles and practices will reflect this, and we will perpetuate the educational crisis for Māori children."
Across the research literature a number of inter-related structural elements are identified as contributing to effective learning environments that are supportive, welcoming and culturally relevant for Māori learners. These are presented in the diagram below.
Diversity 5. Supporting Pasifika learners
Pasifika communities are diverse – ethnically, generationally, economically, and in their language use. Understanding this diversity is a crucial step in engaging Pasifika students and their communities. The Pasifika Education Plan puts Pasifika learners, their parents, families, and communities at the center of education decisions.
This guide focuses on inclusive teaching and learning strategies that can be used in the classroom to create a more effective learning environment for all Pasifika students. Strengthening the self-identity and self-esteem of students who may need additional support to learn is a central theme.
In the guide, the concept of “family" is used. This is inclusive of Aiga (Samoa), Matavuvale (Fiji), Magafaoa (Niue), Kàiga (Tokelau), Kàinga (Tonga), Ngutuare Tangata (Cook Island), and Kaaiga (Tuvalu).
Diversity 6. Differentiation in teaching PE
He kai kei aku ringa
There is food at the end of my hands
Acknowledges that a person can use his basic abilities and resources to create success.
differentiated instruction (also known as differentiated learning) is an approach or philosophy for teaching that involves recognising that the diversity of students in the lesson need different avenues to learning (often in the same classroom) in terms of acquiring content; processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a lesson can learn effectively, regardless of their differences in ability. Students vary in culture, language, gender, motivation, ability/disability, personal interests and more, and teachers must be aware of these varieties as they plan lessons. By considering varied learning needs, teachers can develop personalised instruction so that all students can learn effectively. Differentiated lessons have also been described as ones that respond to student variety in readiness levels, interests and learning profiles. It is a lesson that includes all students and can be successful.